My Edgy Eft Desktop

Thought I'd place a few screenshots of my Edgy Eft install of Ubuntu. The desktop background image is not the offical image, but one that has been put forward on the web site.

The dark rectangle top right is a shell terminal program called tilda which. The 3D desktop eyecandy that is XGL & Compiz is installed and working :)

In the second screenshot is the Ubuntu System Panel (bottom left), which I believe amongst other features, is in desperate need of a border to make it asthetically pleasing. Top middle blue panel is the Deskbar/Beagle search applet.

MC-808 Editor in WINE

I received the MC-808 sampling groovebox from Roland earlier this week, which was to replace the rusting MC-505 (see previous posting). Unfortunately the wrong AC power cord (3 socket kettle lead) was supplied for the transformer which had a 2 pin (figure of 8) configuration. Also missing was a ferrite core & fixing cable for the USB lead connection. I emailed Roland UK to inform them, their response was they wasn't made aware of this from Japan! It always amazes me that even in this day in age what with electronic communication that companies fail to, communicate. Anyway the following day I received the correct mains lead & the ferrite core.

Included with the kit was a CD with both the driver and editing software for both the windoze & Mac OS X platforms. A friend suggested the possibility that the software may work on Linux under WINE. I'd forgotten about this application as I don't have any need to run any windoze programs. So I decided to give it a go and sure enough it does :)

In the manual that came with the groovebox there is some crucial data missing, namely SysEx (System Exclusive). This is an expansion on the 1980's MIDI protocol to allow synth manufacturers to provide additional parameters to the device. I emailed Roland to request this data, and received a reply that it isn't currently available. As soon as this data becomes available I'll then be able to set about writing a Linux native program to interface with the MC-808.

I've suggested to their R&D department they start to consider producing Linux software for their products, especially as it is becoming a viable alternative operating system within studio environments and the creative arts movement. If they do you heard it here first!

Playing Movie as Desktop Background in XGL

Within an XGL environment you can play movies & screensavers as part of your desktop background, which requires xwinwrap.

I spotted the following bash scripts in the Ubuntu forums, which allows you to play a movie by right clicking on a file in Nautilus file manager and selecting Scripts from the menu. I've extended the start script with Zenity to give a GUI useability.


#!/bin/bash
if
zenity --question --title="Run movie as desktop background?" --text="This script will allow you to play a movie on the desktop within your XGL environment.\n\nClick the OK button and choose the movie from the file selection."
then
xwinwrap -ni -o 0.6 -fs -s -sp -st -b -nf -- mplayer -wid WID "`zenity --file-selection`"
fi


Goodbye MC-505, Hello MC-808

I purchased a Roland MC-505 Groovebox nearly 7 years ago. It soon became the heart of my sonic arsenal due to its useability features, just check out the number of controllers, knobs, sliders, and buttons galore, not forgetting of course the D-Beam infrared control.

One weekend a few buttons rendered useless, then on another power up these buttons worked :) only to find that a further 9 didn't :(

I decided to look under the hood, and was shocked to find that the inside was pitted with rust! This rust was clearly well established as it wasn't limited to the surface, nor was it due to environmental conditions. Around these spots of rust were scuff marks and loss of sheen to the metal, which suggested signs of cleaning off surface rust prior to forming/assembly.

I recently contacted the MD of Roland UK via letter to explain the above, and fully appreciated that the warranty had well expired, and that they aren't a charity but under the circumstances at least I could expect was a replacent base unit and repair as a gesture of goodwill. Well, I received a phone call from the Customer Services Manager earlier this week and was elated to find out that they was prepared to done one better and offered either a free of charge repair which would take over 6 weeks as a replacement base would have to be obtained from Japan, or I could be the proud owner of their brand new MC-808 Sampling Groovebox with the usual warranty attached. Guess what I'm getting on Tuesday? A brand spanking new free of charge MC-808 \o/ Can't wait! :)

XGL/Compiz with Bizarre but Interesting Recursive Effect

This screenshot of my Ubuntu Dapper XGL & Compiz desktop was a result of me tinkering with the parameters in Gset-Compiz.














To recreate the effect, which appears when using the Mac OS X-esque reveal all windows, enable/select the desktop option in the [Scale] plugin.

Toggle Compiz On & Off

I use the following bash script to toggle on & off the compiz effects.

#!/bin/bash
#
# Checks to see if process "compiz.real" is running.

pid=`ps --no-heading -C compiz.real | cut -d "?" -f1`;
if [ -n "$pid" ]; then
zenity --info --text="Turning off XGL Compiz effects. Replacing window thememanager with Metacity.";
kill -9 $pid
metacity --replace &
else
zenity --info --text="Turning on XGL Compiz wibbly wobbly windows effects";
gnome-window-decorator &
compiz --replace gconf transset decoration wobbly fade minimize cube rotate zoom scale move resize place switcher &
fi

I've enhanced the original script by using zenity to display an information window depending on whether compiz effects are turned on or off.

















On the bottom Gnome panel on my desktop I have an XGL icon (red & yellow icon with a white 'X'), which launches the script.